Buckle



Feb. 23, 1937. J. R. REYBURN v 2,071,951

BUCKLE Filed Oct. 8, 19-35 I I. BY .bw

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIQE BUCKLE of New York Application October 8, 1935, Serial No. 43,997

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in buckles and has for an object to provide a novel means for gripping a strap in the buckle while the strap end is being made fast.

Another object of the invention is to provide a buckle with a tongue having a gripping end to engage the strap and also having means formed on the tongue for retaining the strap end. I am well aware that it is not new to provide a buckle with a tongue which bites into a strap without penetrating the same, the strap end being bent back upon the tongue and held in such bent condition by retaining means formed on the base frame of the buckle. The tongue has to be held down on the strap by pressure of the thumb while the strap end is being bent back and secured in the retaining means. However, the thumb stands in the way of this operation and the strap may slip when the thumb is withdrawn to permit of drawing the strap taut under the retaining means.

It is an object of my invention to provide means which will not only provide a support for the thumb when holding the tongue in place but will also serve as a retainer for the strap end, such combined thumb piece and retainer being carried by the tongue, instead of the buckle frame.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention the retaining means consists of a thumb piece in the form of a bar fixed to and bridging the tongue near the gripping edge thereof. This provides a maximum of leverage for thumb pressure on the tongue and at the same time the bar is spaced from the tongue sufficiently to permit of tucking the strap end thereunder. Since the strap end may thus be retained without relieving the pressure of the thumb on the tongue the danger of slippage is avoided.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following description of a preferred embodiment and thereafter the novelty and scope of the invention will be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the improved buckle applied to a tire chain;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a view of the buckle in section on a larger scale, the section being taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the buckle.

The preferred embodiment of my invention shown in the accompanying drawing comprises a body frame, preferably of wire, bent to form a closed figure. This body frame comprises a front bar Ill and side bars II which flare outwardly toward the rear of the frame where they are bent to form a pair of laterally extending loops I2. The ends l3 of the wire are then turned inwardly toward each other to complete the rear bar of the frame. These ends l3 serve as pintles on which a tongue I4 is hinged.

The tongue comprises a metal plate bent to form a hinge sleeve l5 at its rear end, while the forward end of the plate is sharpened and serrated toform a gripping edge It. The sleeve 15 encircles the pintles l3 so that the tongue is freely hinged thereon. A bar H is integrally connected to the plate by curved supports l8 which bend upwardly from the plate at each end of the gripping edge. This bar which serves as a thumb piece is thus remote from the hinge and close to the cutting edge so as to provide adequate leverage for thumb pressure. At the same time the bar is spaced from the plate sufficiently to permit of inserting a strap end between the bar and plate as will be explained presently.

The tongue is preferably formed of sheet metal which is stamped out to provide a slot between the cutting edge I6 and the thumb piece H. The latter is then bent up and over the body of the plate to the position shown in Fig. 4. Thus, the thumb piece and tongue are integrally connected.

Figures 1 to 3 illustrate the buckle applied to a tire chain. The tire chain comprises two lengths of chain 26 which are hooked to the loops 22. At their opposite ends the chain links are connected by a link 2! to a strap 22 of flexible material, such as, canvas, leather, etc. The buckle frame is of the spreader type, that is, the chains are spread apart by the spacing of the loops 6?. The link 2i may be arranged to maintain the same spacing of the chains.

In use the chains are strapped around a tire (not shown) by passing the strap end 22a through the frame of the buckle and under the tongue. After the strap has been tightened by pulling it over the front bar H] as tightly as desired, the tongue M is pressed downwardly on the strap end by exerting pressure on the thumb piece ll. This forces the gripping edge it against the strap, and while holding the tongue in this gripping position the strap end may be bent back and inserted under the bar H, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3, and thereafter be drawn tight, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 3. It will be observed that because of the bridging relation between the bar H and tongue l4 it will not be necessary torelease the pressure of the thumb when tucking the strap end 22a under the bar, because the strap passes under the thumb. Thus there will be no release of the grip of the tongue on the strap end until the free end of the strap has been bent back and properly secured under the retaining bar l1.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention I wish it to be understood that this is to be taken as illustrative and not limitative and that I reserve the right to make various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as pointed out in the claims.

I claim:

1. A buckle for use with a flexible strap, said buckle comprising a base frame, a tongue hinged at one end to the frame, the opposite end of the tongue being shaped to grip the strap, and means carried by the tongue at said opposite end for pressing the tongue into gripping relation with the strap and for retaining the adjacent free end of the strap.

2. A buckle for use with a flexible strap, said buckle comprising a base frame, a tongue hinged at one end to the frame, the opposite end of the tongue being shaped to grip the strap, a thumb piece carried by and overlying the tongue at said gripping end and sufficiently spaced from the tongue to permit of inserting the adjacent free end of the strap between the tongue and said thumb piece.

3. A buckle for use with a flexible strap, said buckle comprising a base frame, a tongue hinged at one end to the frame, the opposite end of the tongue being shaped to grip the strap, and a thumb piece fixed to and overlying the tongue between the two ends thereof but nearer the gripping end and. in such spaced relation to the tongue as to serve as a retainer for the adjacent free end of the strap.

4. A buckle for use with a flexible strap, said buckle comprising a base frame, a tongue hinged at one end to the frame, the opposite end of the tongue having a broad serrated edge, a thumb piece carried by the tongue and substantially overlying said edge, whereby the strap may be gripped between the tongue and frame by pressure of the thumb on said thumb piece, said thumb piece being spaced sufiiciently from the tongue to permit of retaining the end of the strap between the thumb piece and tongue.

5. A buckle for use with a flexible strap, said buckle comprising a base frame, a tongue hinged at one end to the frame, the opposite end of the tongue being in the form of a broad serrated edge, and a bar secured to the tongue in bridging relation thereto immediately adjacent said edge, whereby the strap may be gripped between the tongue and frame by pressure of the thumb on said thumb piece, said bar being spaced sufficiently from the tongue to permit of retaining the end of the strap between the thumb piece and tongue.

6. A buckle for use withv a flexible strap, said buckle comprising a base frame, and a sheetmetal tongue hinged at one end to said frame, said tongue having at the opposite end thereof a serrated edge adapted to grip the strap, said tongue having also a bar portion integrally connected at opposite ends thereof to the body of the tongue, said bar portion overlying said body p0rtion at a point intermediate between the hinge and the serrated edge but nearer said edge than said hinge, said bar portion being also longer than the width of the strap and sufficiently spaced from the body portion of the tongue to permit of retaining the adjacent free end of the strap between the bar portion and the body portion.

JOHN R. REYBURN. 

